Memory Lapses of the Media

It is highly unlikely that you will remember this young man. His day of reckoning came 8 years ago when he ran over and killed 6 people in his newly imported BMW speeding at 140 km/h after getting drunk in a late night party(the TOI astrologer’s advice came a tad late.)

Unfortunately for the victims, none of the six were important as Sanjeev Nanda’s father, an ex-Indian Navy Commander and international arms dealer(who also figured in the Tehelka expose) . Despite an overwhelming amount of evidence, the sole survivor, Manoj testified that it was a truck that killed the victims and not the BMW. Manoj has mysteriously disappeared since then, but Sanjeev Nanda himself continues to grace the entertainment section and page 3 photos in Times of India and Hindustan Times under headings like ‘Fun at Punk Party‘ and ‘A Wedding to Remember’.

Not so long ago the very same newspapers had harped about the public losing faith in the Indian judiciary and the gross injustice in the case. Now when the same newspapers seems to have accepted him as a part of the elite Indian society, I can’t help but wonder – what is the role of the media here? To bring out the truth or just to play along?

In India, if you are wealthy, politician or a big media shot, you can do whatever you like. Its common man like us, who suffers most.
Great post…. These guys should be brought to justice because of their negligence and arrogance.

Perhaps we are forgetting,he went through the judicial process and was cleared after that.The problem here is the investigating agencies and the tardy judicial system.If you haven’t observed there are many more photos of Sanjeev Nanda in the news papers today.After being cleared by the courts and the BMW being converted into a truck he is a free bird.The killer of Priyadarshini Matoo was also cleared by the lower court and he got married after that and started LAW PRACTICE in DELHI HIGH COURT.Thanx to the media he was found guilty.The judge who cleared him by a strange coincidence got promoted.Manu Sharma and associates were also cleared and if memory serves me right it was the same judge.It was the media again who brought it to our notice.The common thread in these cases is that JESSICA, PRIYADARSHINI and Nitish Katara have relatives who kept fighting for them.In the BMW case the poor victims had nobody to stand for them.

I would understand if the media had exonerated him as a part of impartial reporting and on taking the judgement on face value. But what is objectionable is that on one hand they write editorials and publish articles condemning the justice system and on the other hand promotes Nanda’s business interests.

Woke,
There are vested interests in media and media houses are commercial ventures too.There are PR agencies especially employed to promote people and companies.When the whole system is corrupt we cannot expect the media to be above board.Still because of some honest and sincere jounalists and media houses there is some scare in the corrupt and selfish politicians. It definitely makes news when Admiral Nanda’s son is standing with a very influential minister.

I had written a comment on this post (or had I?) but it’s gone!
Well, I had said that page 3 can be bought. This is common knowledge. Bought not in the sense of here take this much and give me space (like ads) but people do PR…like Prerna has explained so well.
I agree with Prerna that the media reflects the society. However, I feel that if there is any industry left which has a fair amount of people fighting for truth and justice, it is the journalism industry.